Crazy gold stats as miners haul 21 tonnes
August 10, 2018
Gold miners have hauled 21 tonnes
in seven months to July 31 this year, shredding all records set since 2009,
spurred by the exploits of small-scale miners who have delivered 13,5 tonnes.Large-scale
miners, for all their mechanisation, have delivered 7,3 tonnes up to end of
last month.This means small-scale miners have contributed 64,9 percent to gold
deliveries so far.Tellingly, the gold output so far is merely 4 tonnes shy of
last year’s total gold deliveries which were pegged at 24,8 tonnes.This year’s
target is 30 tonnes.
Both small-scale and large-scale
gold miners delivered about 7,3 tonnes in last two months compared to almost
6,3 tonnes recorded in April and May as miners ramped up production.Fidelity
Printers and Refiners (FPR) general manager Mr Fradreck Kunaka, yesterday said
up to July 31, gold deliveries marginally surpassed 20,8 tonnes.“Gold
deliveries from both small-scale miners and primary producers (large-scale
miners) increased in the month of July as compared to the same period last
year,” said Mr Kunaka.
“Total tonnage recorded for
small-scale miners rose to 2,46 tonnes from 1,12 tonnes in 2017 while that of
primary producers rose to 1,09 tonnes from 0,96 tonnes.“This can be attributed
to the support being availed to gold producers through the Gold Development
Initiative Fund (GDIF) being rolled out by Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR)
on behalf of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).”The RBZ has increased the gold
support facility to $150 million from the $80 million, which was disbursed by
December 31 last year after realising the impact that the fund had on output.As
at December last year, $60 million had been disbursed to small-scale miners
while $20 million was snapped up by large-scale miners.So far, miners have
drawn down $100 million from the Gold Development Initiative Facility.The loan
facility is primarily for the acquisition of gold mining plant and equipment in
order to enhance gold production by miners, mainly small-scale who have
previously complained of lack of funding to mechanise their operations.
Representatives of small-scale
miners say loans of up to $20 000 would be critical as they help them acquire
machinery such as compressors.The absence of key equipment causes a lot of
downtime as miners spend time looking to hire machinery from colleagues and
some companies, eating into their profitability.Since January, output has
generally been rising, with just over 2,5 tonnes being delivered; 2 tonnes in
February; 2,7 tonnes (March); about 2,9 tonnes in April; 3,4 tonnes in May; 3,6
tonnes in June and 3,5 tonnes last month.
Small-scale miners have emerged
as the biggest contributors to gold output.Last year, they delivered 53 percent
of the 24,8 tonnes of gold.In 2014, the gold sector generated $687 million in
terms of export earnings before rising to $737 million in 2015 and $914 million
in 2016.Zimbabwe boasts of 13 million tonnes of gold, the second largest in the
world, with only 580 tonnes having been mined since 1980.Gold production peaked
at 27,1 tonnes in 1999 but plunged to 3,5 tonnes in 2008 at the height of
economic challenges.
Source: https://www.herald.co.zw